UTN uW Translation Notes:

Psalm 9 General Notes

Psalms 9–10 as One Psalm

This psalm has a superscription but Psalm 10 does not. This fact and the acrostic nature of the two psalms (lines start with consecutive letters of the alphabet) has lead many scholars to believe these two psalms may have originally been written as one psalm. The analysis of the structure of these psalms presented here will assume that. It is recommended that you follow the versification and chapter structure of other Bibles you are familiar with.

Structure and Formatting

The outlines for psalms 9 and 10 are combined here and in the introduction to psalm 10 because they were probably originally one psalm. Your translation will probably be best if you translate them together.- Superscription- verses 1–10 Praise of the King - verses 1–4 Praise the righteous God, for he terrifies the wicked. - verses 5–6 Yahweh destroyed the wicked. - verses 7–10 Yahweh sits enthroned to do justice for the afflicted- verses 11–20 Petition the King - verses 11–14 He did not ignore the afflicted. - verses 15–16 He ensnared the wicked! - verses 17–20 The wicked will come to nothing.Psalm 10:- verses 1–11 Persecution of the Poor - verses 1–6 God stands far off; the wicked say, I will not be shaken. (check ULT 10:6) - verses 7–11 The wicked sit in ambush and say, God has been ignoring (check ULT 10:11)- verses 12–18 Proclamation of the King - verses 12–14 God *does* see. Rise up, Yahweh. (check ult 10:12) - verses 15–18 Yahweh is King forever. The afflicted will never fear again.

About the Psalm

Purpose: To petition the divine king to the aid of the oppressed.Content: Rise up, Yahweh! You've avenged the oppressed in the past but You are now standing at a distance.Message: Yahweh has established his throne for justice (9:7b).

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Order and chaos

The first letter of many of the lines of these two psalms follows an acrostic (alphabetic) pattern. In some places, however, this orderly pattern is interrupted. The places where it is interrupted are places where the wicked are mentioned or acting. It is as if the presence of the wicked disrupts the orderliness over even the poetry, but it is restored and kept by Yahweh. If your language has a poetic style which can indicate order and chaos, you may wish to translate:- 9:1–4 in an orderly style- 9:5–6 in a slightly chaotic style- 9:7–15 in an orderly style- 9:16–17 in a slightly chaotic style- 9:18 in neither- 9:19–20 in an orderly style- 10:1 in an orderly style- 10:2–11 in a very chaotic style- 10:12–18 in an orderly style

The fortress and the pit

There are two chiasms in psalm 9. In the first half, Yahweh is compared to a fortress (verse 9) and, poetically, his judgment forms a barrier between the enemies and the psalmist and the oppressed.- A 9:1–2 people trust Yahweh - B 9:3-4 Yahweh is a judge - C 9:5–6 The enemy - B 9:7-8 Yahweh is a king and judge- A 9:9–10 people trust YahwehIn the second half, people’s prayers poetically encircle the wicked, causing them to fall into their own pit.- A 9:11–14 people pray to Yahweh for help (especially verse 13) - B 9:15-18 the wicked are destroyed by their own pit- A 9:19-20 people pray to Yahweh for helpAs you translate this psalm, you will probably have a structure that matches this which may or may not be meaningful in your language. You could also consider if there is a way to poetically “surround” the wicked with Yahweh as judge and the prayers of his people in the two sections.

Adjectives used as generic nouns:

- The adjectives wicked, afflicted, innocent, and oppressed are nominal adjectives used as generic nouns in these psalms. See figs-nominaladj and figs-genericnoun.

CCBYSA

Portions of the ULT, UST, and TNs for this psalm are derivative from “Psalms, Layer by Layer”, Psalm 9 by Cambridge Digital Bible Research, Katie Frost, Meaghan Smith, Nikki Mustin et al, used under CC BYSee their overview video and top three exegetical issues in Psalm 9 video and their top three poetic features of Psalms 9-10 video on YouTube.exegetical 9exegetical 10poeticSee: writing-poetry

(Occurrence 0) For the chief musician

(For the chief musician)

Alternate translation: “This is for the director of music to use in worship”

(Occurrence 0) set to Muth Labben

(set to Muth Labben)

This may refer to a style of music.